Forgotten Houses of Whitchurch

Over these past months we’ve looked at so many aspects of our village and the old parish, and discovered many things that we probably didn’t know. People, places and events now long gone and lost from memory

But then there are a few things that linger on. Ghosts from the past which still leave the faintest of footprints; almost forgotten over time, but not quite

Whilst many of the old places have gone, sometimes their names remain. This is particularly true of our lost houses, our forgotten houses. I can think of over a dozen houses from the old parish which, with their owners were prominent in past years, and I’m sure that you could add to them

There are too many to list in one article, so here’s my suggestions for a first list:

Greenmeadow
I’m amazed that Greenmeadow hasn’t been mentioned before. Almost the only ‘stately home’ in the parish, with the grandest of families living there. Long gone now, and replaced by quite a large estate of council housing. We’ll need to look at this in a bit more detail before we finish this saga, but perhaps the photograph will remind you

Minafon
Not a huge house, but in a prominent location (particularly as the A470 now runs past). The house was badly damaged by bombing in WW2, and was demolished in the 1960s, being replaced by flats and townhouses. All that remains today is the front boundary wall and the old name

Archbishop’s House
Ever since we’ve lived in Whitchurch, we’ve known about the ‘Archbishops’ house in Westbourne Crescent, but haven’t discovered anything about it. It’s been converted into flats now, but there are still intriguing glimpses over the front boundary walls into the grounds. Does anyone know about this house?

Bryn Glas
We’ve previously learnt a little about William Vachell and his Gentleman’s Residence on the Philog. It’s all gone now, and sadly, there are no photographs of it. The old OS maps give a hint, and we’ve suggested what it might have looked like in its prime. Retford Court now occupies the site

Plas-y-Llan
Another Gentleman’s residence, this time on Penlline Road for John Ignatius Williams. He was a stipendiary magistrate, and after his death, his widow lived on in the house for many years. In addition to the house, there was a bungalow for the gardener! Plas-y-Llan was demolished in the early 1920s, and it’s been replaced by an estate of semi-detached houses. We don’t know what the house looked like, but it sounded quite special

Gabalva
This house deserves an article on its own, so I’ll be exploring this in a month or so’s time. Gabalva gives its name to the large suburb alongside the river, but there’s no sign of it now. The house dates from the 16th century and had extensive landscaped grounds. Sold as a farm by 1940, all is now lost, but we should be celebrating it!

Maplewood
Strangely, this house still remains, although most folk walk or drive past it every day without realising it. Set back from the main road, the large house has been brutally altered from its original appearance, with a changed elevation and poorly designed windows inserted to form flats. The gardens have been built on so there is no hint of what used to be, except the name of ‘Maplewood’ Avenue off the main road through Llandaff North. Can anyone help with its story?

Treoda (of ancient heritage)
This is not only forgotten but completely lost too. Edgar Chappell suggests that it might have been located to the north of the Common (hence the name Wauntreoda), but it has also been suggested that it was somewhere to the north of Whitchurch Castle. All we know is that it was of ancient heritage and was quite special. Who was ‘Oda’?

What about other houses from Tongwynlais, Llandaff North, Birchgrove and Rhiwbina? What are we missing from these corners of the old parish?

Next time we’ll gallop through some more of our forgotten houses, including Trewertha, Ty’n y Parc, Penlline and Forest Hall. If there are others that come to mind why not tell us and share some of the forgotten ‘treasures’ of our village?

 

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